Christians in Batala have warned to initiate a protest against the administration if it continues to show laxity in removing encroachments by ‘politically influential’ persons on the pathways leading to their burial grounds.

Christians in Batala have warned to initiate a protest against the administration if it continues to show laxity in removing encroachments by ‘politically influential’ persons on the pathways leading to their burial grounds.

Senior Christian leader Kanwal Bakshi said that in many villages of Gurdaspur district such as Ransike Mira and Talwandi Rama, Kashtiwal and Dayalgarh, some anti-social elements had encroached cremation grounds following which, Christians were forced to take their dead for burial via long routes.

Citing the example of Talwandi Rama village, where lambardar Ajit Singh has been cultivating 15 marlas of burial land for several years, Bakshi said “Though I along with the residents of affected villages had lodged many complaints with the district administration and police of Gurdaspur and Batala, no action was initiated.

As most of the persons who have encroached these lands are politically connected, all our complaints are ignored. A lot of resentment prevails within the community but officials, including the DC and SSP, are doing nothing,” he added.

Meanwhile, in October last year during CM Badal’s sangat darshan, the then Congress MLA from Dera Baba Nanak Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had produced documents claiming that a SAD sarpanch had encroached the entrance of the Ransike Mira burial ground following which the community had to cross more than two km to reach the ground.

Batala SSP Deepak Hilori was not available for comments while Gurdaspur DC Pardeep Aggarwal showed ignorance to any complaint made to him and said that action will be taken if the accusations are true.